Right turning motorists burn me up!

[fatbottomedgurl]

So Saturday hubbie and are I riding in town and had to use one of those press-button-to-walk thingies to get a green at a signal-busy intersection (I wish bikes could trip the sensors!). I moved back over almost into the lane and looked behind me at a pickup truck. I pantomined to the driver that we were going straight. At the green light he floors it and starts to turn right in front of me. I yelled HEY and he screech stopped. He would have hit my husband who was on my right and a little ahead of me.

Then this morning rode with my daughter to school and after leaving her I approach a stop sign (small residential street). A lady manages to get by me on the left, pulls in front of me and stops to turn right. ARGHHH.

I think right turns by cars must be the number one bike vs car accident, because I encounter this daily. I have become so obstinate at lights now, I get in the lane, looking every one in the eye to make sure they see me and don't mess with me. But some of them still do. Okay, I guess at 5'2" on a 14" frame I'm not very threatening...

[Geonz]

I'm pretty sure that statistically it *is* the most common bike-car accident, with the possible exception being path-car accidents. Most of those, too, would be right-turns, though.
In my effective cycling course we discussed trying to plant ourselves a little further out in the lane - in the middle third - to make it harder for a car to be right along side of us.
I knew this was a weird town when I stupidly found myself in a right turn lane, with four cars piled behind me, and I wanted to go straight, and the light was about to turn... and the driver rolls his window down and says, "would you like to go ahead?" I thanked him and bolted through...

[fatbottomedgurl]

I actually find the jerks to be in the minority too. But it only takes one...
One of the "scarier" roads I deal with has a 50mph (!!!) limit on an uphill grade and all the right turns have their own lanes. Which means I am riding at 10mph and crossing over those lanes. I am getting real good at over-the-shoulder looks.

[Dianyla]

You need to get in the habit of merging left to take up the whole lane if it's a "go straight or turn" type of lane. If it's a "turn-only" lane, merge left into the lane that is going straight. If you stay to the right the driver will most likely move past you and then cut you off. The BicycleDriver website link that I posted had some good videos showing how to do this.

Since I've been doing this, I have had no right-turn-right-in-front-of-me-ohmygod incidents.

[KnottedYet]

Ditto. Check out Effective Cycling by John Forester.

(I feel like I've posted this book 10 times in the last week... whoa!)

-K

[fatbottomedgurl]

Oh, I don't stay to the right, I stay in the lane that goes straight. But I am "crossing over" the lane that goes to the right, and when I am traveling 35 mph slower than traffic that crossover is dicey.